Lot #118: Vintage Hardcover 1977 - Tom Thomson "The Silence And The Storm"

Tom Thomson came from Scottish Canadian stock. The sixth of ten children, he was born in the town of Claremont in Pickering Township, Ontario. He grew up on a farm near Leith, outside Owen Sound. His father, a farmer, was something of a naturalist; one of his older cousins, Dr. William Brodie, was one of the finest naturalists of the day (he served as director of the Biological Department of what is now the Royal Ontario Museum from 1903 to 1909). Tom Thomson collected specimens with Dr. Brodie, who gave him informal training as a naturalist. From Brodie, Thomson learned how to combine keen observation of nature with a sense of reverence for its mystery.Brought up in a creative family, Thomson learned to play several musical instruments, among them the mandolin. He sang in the church choir and learned to draw and paint. After missing a year of high school as a result of chronic illness, he worked at a foundry and a machine shop in Owen Sound. He then enrolled in the Canada Business College in Chatham (he is listed in the city directory in 1902). Later in 1902, he attended the Acme Business College in Seattle, a school run by his eldest brother George and a cousin, F.R. McLaren.Early CareerIn Seattle, Thomson got his first job with a commercial art company. (See Graphic Art and Design.) He worked as an engraver and calligrapher with a firm run by C.C. Maring, one of the graduates of the Chatham Business College. He worked briefly for Maring & Ladd, which became Maring & Blake soon after he arrived due to a change in ownership. He was then hired by their strongest competitor, the Seattle Engraving Company, at an increase of $10 a week. His work included creating business cards, brochures and posters.Thomson doubtless looked forward to a career in Seattle. He probably wanted to settle down, advance in his trade and marry, as his brother Ralph did in 1906. That he did not was likely the result of an incident involving Alice Elinor Lambert, eight or nine years his junior, to whom he proposed. At the crucial moment, Miss Lambert nervously giggled, causing the highly sensitive Thomson to abandon his matrimonial ambitions and leave for Toronto. It was on his return from Seattle that he decided to become an artist. (Lambert, according to David Silcox, went on to write romantic novels, one of which featured a young girl who was wooed by an artist and refused him, to her later regret.)